Animal tissue, such as human tissue, is susceptible to injury. Injuries that pierce, tear or cut tissue can be difficult to heal especially when the pierced, torn or cut tissue traverses a large area relative to the entire surface of the animal. Typical injuries which are difficult to heal include those from burns and traumatic injuries. Additionally, chronic diseases such as diabetes results in chronic wounds and tissue break down. Frequently, injured tissue may also be the result of intentional medical procedures, such as a fasciotomy.
A fasciotomy is a surgical procedure where the fascia is cut to relieve tension or pressure (and treat the resulting loss of circulation to an area of tissue or muscle). Complications related to this medical procedure usually involve the formation of scar tissue after the operation. Another challenge of this medical procedure is the ability to cover and/or close the tissue which is intentionally cut during the procedure.
Other medical procedures which are difficult to heal from include skin grafts used to cover open, wounded tissue. While skin grafts are intended to promote healing by covering an open wound, they are difficult to heal because of hematomas, fluid collection, and movement that can occur near or within the skin graft.
Over time as wounds heal, the edges of the skin retract. This retraction ultimately may cause the wound to become larger and more difficult to get closed. Larger wounds typically require more invasive measures to close such as skin graft or free flaps which include skin, soft tissue and typically a blood supply such as an artery and veins.
Conventional dressings, such as bolster dressings, that are frequently used to treat the injured tissue discussed above suffer from many problems and/or drawbacks. One problem is the ability to remove excess fluid build-up that can occur near and/or within the wounded tissue. When such fluid build-up occurs, this increases the chances for higher bacterial counts which in-turn causes infection in the wounded area of the patient. Additionally, hematomas can lift skin grafts off the underlying tissue bed and separate the graft from its blood and nutrient supply causing graft failure. Other problems include the ability to promote closing of the open wound while the wound heals.
What is needed in the art is a method and system that may promote the healing of wounds in tissue by removing excess fluid from wounds as well as applying appropriate forces to edges of a wound in order to bring the edges closer together for a complete closure of a wound, without the need of other medical procedures, such as skin grafts.